Picture an economy as if it were a circuit board, and money is the electricity that flows around to keep it running. Always remember that although the current economy is now much weaker, the economic machine will never stop running. You just need work smarter to maintain and grow your share by focusing on those key business metrics… and taking action!

The Revenue Equation: Number of clients visiting  X  Average amount spent per visit = prosperity for you and your staff.

 A simple way to increase the number of clients that you see each week:

The clients that come through your door can be simplified into two types:

1. new clients, and
2. existing clients

Before spending extra time, energy and money trying to convince new clients to give you a chance, remember that there are countless opportunities sitting in your salon chair every day. I will talk about ideas to improve the average client-spend another time. For now, let’s focus on one of the easiest ways to increase the number of clients who walk through your door each week, month and year with one key metric: your visit rate – and the impact this has on your bottom line.

How the revisit period impacts your annual revenue:

The regularity of your clients’ visits has a huge impact on how busy your appointment book looks overall. Just a small improvement to will make a substantial impact on the success of your business.

Next week: Ideas for increasing your client visit rate. Don’t miss it!

Article by Jasmine Dickenson, South London Area Sales Manager, Kitomba.

Take a look at your key business statistics. On average salons and spas lose around 10 percent of their clients for various reasons: moving across to the other side of town, moving out of town etc. So to replenish your client numbers you need at least 10 percent new clients stepping through your door. You can easily find this information by checking your New Client percentage on your Kitomba Business Summary report.

How are your new clients hearing about your business?

Find out how your new clients found you… was it via another client, the Yellow Pages, Facebook, your website or some other way? If you run a Kitomba Referral Summary Report over the same time frame as the Business Summary, the number of new clients on the Business Summary should match the number of referral reasons on your Referral Summary report. If it doesn’t, this information isn’t being collected and input into your Client Cards in their first appointment. Knowing where your new clients come from is vital information for knowing where to invest your marketing time and money. It’s important that everyone in the team understands the importance of collecting this data as it has a big impact the future growth of your salon or spa.

If your New Client percentage is under 10 percent, maybe it’s time to kick off an ‘introduce a friend’ promotion? Or, if you’re fully booked, you could be turning new clients away and be in need of another stylist/therapist. Or maybe you just need to adjust your staffing levels on peak times for new clients (late nights and Saturday’s).

Make sure you don’t miss the Kitomba ‘Market Smarter’ webinar and workshops. These workshops will enable you to maximize your marketing resources within Kitomba that will also help you build and grow your business!

Article by Brenda Perham, Business Coach, Bamboo Consulting: brenda@bambooconsulting.co.nz

From managing successful salons to education and sales for iconic global haircare brands and now business coaching, Brenda qualifies as an industry expert. Brenda’s passion is empowering the hair and beauty industry to unleash its business potential and assist in developing the tools that lead to sustained profitability, growth and efficiency. Brenda is also a Kitomba software trainer.

On top of an awesome month overseas which included a 10 day trip to London to attend the Sassoon Academy and Salon International, winning Kitomba NZARH ’Salon of the Year’ and ‘Employer of Choice‘ awards was the ultimate highlight!

The Reds team have been buzzing ever since. They are so proud to be part of an award winning team. It has meant they must be on their ‘A game’ consistently as our clients expectations are that much higher.

We have recruited two fantastic new team members and I have a constant flow of CV’s over my desk.

Two of our super stylists have now achieved finalist status in the ‘Business Stylist of the Year’ award. This has been amazing for their careers. Fleur has now left on her OE with a great CV and Nichola is booked solidly for a minimum 3 months in advance!

Our clients love being part of our success and we served bubbles and cake for weeks!

Our new client referrals have increased dramatically as our clients feel confident to recommend us to friends and associates.

For me, as a salon owner, it has validated the systems and processes I am continually implementing and refining.

Just to enter the business awards is a worthwhile experience as it forces you to analyse every aspect of your business.

Every year I learn more about my bottom line as I work on my business rather than in it.

Anyone who is hesitant to enter I urge to just do it! The first time I entered I filled in the boxes on the form in biro! Needless to say I didn’t win!

The only thing now is……..what next?

Registrations are now open for the 2012 Kitomba NZARH Business Awards 2012: http://www.nzhairdressingawards.co.nz/

Kitomba and NZARH would like to extend a big ‘THANK YOU’ to our 2012 sponsors. Without your support, this year’s awards would not be possible. Schwarzkopf, Wella, Telecom, KarenDavid, Shock Consult and Images.

Having a good stock management process reduces waste and can have a hugely positive impact on your cashflow.

Zambezi Hair Salon in Wellington, NZ is a great example of a business that does stock management well.

Here is a summary of their process:

• Only one tube or bottle of product is open at a time in each product type.
• Each product box is white-stickered when it’s opened and staff members use their own colour pen to mark on the sticker the amount used and the amount remaining. This is done by percentage or fraction rather than weight as markers are already on most tubes.
• Client cards are also marked with the amount of product used and are billed for this amount. At the end of each day, client cards are checked against product used, as labelled, to make sure both sets of records match up. This closes the loop.
• Any product checked out of retail for professional use is clearly labelled for salon use making it easy to do a visual audit around the salon. Once empty, these bottles go in the stock bin to be counted.
• Once a week a complete stock take is done for both professional use and retail products by printing off the stock take report and checking actual against expected amounts. Stock take takes about one hour and is done by the same people each week (one person checks retail and another checks professional stock) to keep the process consistent.
• Big bottles such as shampoos are only checked out once they are empty which means they are counted as ‘one’ during stock take until they are finished.
• Once stock take is complete, the system is adjusted for variations and stock that is low is re-ordered using the auto-order by minimum function on Kitomba.

Tip: If you’ve ever duplicated stock by overlooking pending orders, you can now set preferences in Kitomba that take into account pending orders. Download the Managing Stock Mini-Guide for these tips and tricks.

Rebooking your existing clientele can grow and stabilize your business dramatically without a large dollar investment. Your clients are always a reflection of you and the rebooking culture needs to be created by you and your team.

Take a look at your Kitomba Business Summary report. Underneath your rebook rate is your client visit rate e.g. ’7.3 pa or every 7wks 1.0days’. This means that your clients are on average visiting you 7.3 times per year or every seven weeks and one day. As you build your rebook rate you’ll see the frequency of your client visits increase over the year. If your rebook rate is quite low (well under 50 percent) at the moment and you increase it to over the 70 percent mark, you can easily gain another two visits over the year from your clients. Multiply your client average spend by two (the extra visits) and then multiply by the number of active clients you have on your database. Now see the potential for earning serious extra cash that could be in your till!

Here are some quick tips to help you rev up your rebook culture:

• Never ask your client to rebook at the desk! Incorporate it into your service. Suggest a time frame for their return in the beauty room or at the work station. If they hesitate, mention that you have a text message reminder service (some clients fear they will forget!).
• Run a prize draw over an eight week period for clients who rebook. Create an amazing hamper full of products, vouchers etc (worth at least $300) or the prize could be a years free hairdressing or a weekend away. Promote it within you salon or spa, on Facebook and on your website. But most importantly, get your team talking about it with every client!
• Incentivise your team to get their clients in the draw by rewarding the stylist/therapist whose client is the winner.

So get going… it’s like a snowball… once it gains momentum it gets bigger and bigger. And the great thing is that once you have your rebook culture, you’ve also trained your clients to just keep rebooking, which they will now have to do to get an appointment with you!

Email me if you would like some help to build and grow your business!

Article by Brenda Perham, Business Coach, Bamboo Consulting: brenda@bambooconsulting.co.nz

From managing successful salons to education and sales for iconic global haircare brands and now business coaching, Brenda qualifies as an industry expert. Brenda’s passion is empowering the hair and beauty industry to unleash its business potential and assist in developing the tools that lead to sustained profitability, growth and efficiency. Brenda is also a Kitomba software trainer.

If you’re yet to get started and time and budgets are tight, here are a few simple Valentines Day promotional tips:

1. Send your clients a Valentines Day email with a special offer, promotion or gift suggestions (check out Kitomba’s ready-to-go themed templates on kmail).
2. A happy V-Day text to all your clients on the 14th will go down a treat and it’s a great opportunity to get in touch with lapsed clients to let them know you miss them.
3. Chat to your clients about their Valentines Day plans while they’re in the salon or spa and use it as an opportunity to upsell vouchers and product bundles as gifts.
4. Don’t forget to use Facebook, Twitter and your website to spread the word on special Valentines Day offers and promotions.

For lots more ideas, we really liked the savvy stylist blog by Elizabeth Kraus.

But before you get started, put some thought into setting campaign objectives that will help you measure your success.
Financial objectives: could relate to dollar sales, profit or return on investment.
Marketing objectives: could relate to unit sales, levels of satisfaction or uptake of a promotion/special offer.
Customer objectives: may include reactivation of lapsed clients, number of new clients or rebooking rate percentage.

Have you got a V-Day marketing super success story (or failure)? We’d love to hear it.

Key take-outs included:

• Client loyalty: consumers are very loyal to their hairstylist; particularly women aged 36 to 60+ and men aged between 26 and 35. More than half of loyal clients have been seeing the same stylist for three years or more.
• Trust: hairstylists were on par with a client’s therapist in terms of trust. The importance of continually improving both technical skills in hair design and the softer skills of stylist-client communication are interpreted by Pivot Point as the key to this trust.
• Professional training: respect for styling suggestions, product suggestions and willingness to pay more for services all increase when a stylist informs clients they receive regular training.
• Relationship with stylist: friendliness, technical skills and professionalism rank highest amongst the list of attributes. And the consultation at the start of an appointment is viewed as the most important conversation between the client and stylist.

Read the full report from Pivot Point.

2011 Industry Awards trophies

At a sparkling ceremony in the Auckland Museum on 20 November 2011, Reds Hairdressing from Pukerua Bay in Wellington, was named the 2011 Kitomba NZARH Salon of the Year and the Telecom Employer of Choice.

In announcing Reds Hairdressing as the Kitomba NZARH Salon of the Year Award, Kitomba CEO, Tom Murphy, said, “Reds stood out as the best all round entrant. Their business performance was excellent, their marketing outstanding and the work they do with their teams won them the Telecom Employer of Choice. ”

Reds Hairdressing named Kitomba NZARH Salon of the Year 2011L-R: Tom Murphy (Kitomba), Diana Beaufort (Reds Hairdressing), Ria Bond (NZARH)

Diana Beaufort, owner of Reds Hairdressing said, “I have a fantastic team of people working with me. They are all committed to going the extra mile consistently and I’m committed to providing them with the tools, knowledge, and life skills to be successful in their own right. These awards are a great opportunity to closely scrutinize not just your business strengths but also the areas to improve for next time!”

Salon One the Cove, from Tauranga, also had a prize winning night collecting the Kitomba One Excellence in Marketing Award, and stylist, Talina Griffith was named Schwarzkopf Business Stylist of the Year.

Angela King from Salon One the Cove accepts her award for Excellence in Marketing

Other award winners, announced on the night, were:

• Biba, from Auckland, won Telecom Fastest Growing Salon. Last year Belinda Watson was named the Entrepreneur of the Year.
• Grant Stapleton and Jenny Aitken from Hue in Auckland were named the Kitomba One Entrepreneur of the Year.
• Capelli Studio from Cambridge, won the Schwarzkopf Debutant Award for the Best New Entrant.
• Do.Hairstyling from Christchurch, won the Shock Consult Boutique Salon of the Year
• H&B HairArt and Beauty from the Christchurch, won the NZARH Grand Salon of the Year
• So You Hairdressing, from the Wellington, won the Shock Consult Classic Salon of the Year

Ria Bond, President of NZARH said, “The New Zealand hair industry can be very proud of these businesses. Despite trying times, the award winners have delivered astounding performance and pushed standards forward on every front. They are role models that we can all learn from.”

Created to foster, encourage and celebrate business excellence, the Kitomba NZARH Business Awards are known to help salon owner’s gain a better understanding of their businesses.

Mr Murphy said, “We understand how much effort is involved in creating a profitable, successful salon. Together with NZARH we want to support and celebrate the hard work, dedication and teamwork that sit in the background of that success.”

The Business Awards are presented at a joint event with the HITO Awards. The 2011 HITO Apprentice of the Year is Laura Simpson from Scott Base in Dunedin.

Kitomba is New Zealand’s leading salon and spa software company. In 2009 the company was recognised by Deloitte as one of the Fastest 500 Growing Companies in the Asia Pacific.

The Kitomba NZARH Business Awards are an annual event that recognizes top performing salons in New Zealand and is sponsored by industry leaders Shock Consult, Schwarzkopf, Telecom and Kitomba.

1. Does it meet your needs?

Start by making a list of everything you want the software to do in your salon, e.g. appointment book, client cards, client history, staff timetables, automatic everyday reminder messages, campaign marketing, stock management, reports, security and more. Arrange the list in order of priority, with the most important at the top. Now you have a checklist you can use to make sure the software meets your needs.

2. Is it easy to use?

Salons and spas can be very busy places, so any system has to meet your needs AND be easy to use. It’s no use ticking all the boxes if it takes too long to do your number one priority. Make sure the tasks you do the most, like making and moving appointments, completing sales, are easy for you and your team to learn and do.

3. Does the company have a good reputation?

You should ask around other friendly local spas and salons to find out which systems they use, which ones they considered and why they chose the one they did. Ask them if they’re happy to recommend the one they use and why. And ask them if they’re happy with the service they get when they need help.  We all need help and if it is not fast, friendly, free and useful then this might not be the software for you.

4. How much can you afford?

Salon and spa software prices vary. Know your budget and how much you can afford. Renting software rather than purchasing it outright can be kinder on your cash flow. Keep in mind that high quality salon software will add to your profitability by, for example, reducing no-shows, improving your rebooking rate and increasing retail sales.

5. Are you happy with the contract?

Not all software contracts are created equal. So when it comes time to sign make sure you understand the terms and conditions particularly around support and software upgrades.  Some contracts are purchase agreements which require a sizeable upfront payment to purchase the software plus ongoing payments for support and upgrades. Others are weekly or monthly rental agreements which cover use of the software, all upgrades and unlimited support – or some variation of these two. Choose the one that suits you best.

Facebook is now well and truly integrated in our personal lives. If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest country in the world after China and India, with more than 600 million active users.  It’s how we stay in contact with old and new friends, share news, invites, photos, videos, jokes and scandal. And more recently, it’s become the way many of us stay ‘in the know’ with our favourite brands and products. But the real beauty of Facebook is the voice it gives to small, local businesses, such as salons and spas. Never before have we had such a direct way to ‘talk’ with our clients and community on a daily basis.

If your salon or spa is already on the Facebook business page bandwagon (different from a personal page) then good work! If you’re considering joining it (and you should), you might find these suggestions helpful for both getting started and making the most of your Facebook page.

1. Begin building connections with who you know: Start with your friends, family, business supporters and staff. Ask them to show their support by liking your Facebook page. Once you’ve got a few likes, start promoting your page to clients via email, direct mail, through your website and in conversation when clients come into your salon.
2. Find the right rhythm: Nobody knows your clients like you do so decide how often they’ll want to hear from you and think about what content will be important to them. At Kitomba we try to mix functional Kitomba news with business advice and fun.
3. Be authentic: Keep your posts conversational and personal. Don’t be afraid to share your successes and your struggles. Your community will appreciate getting to know you and your team even better.
4. Make time for your page: Set aside 10-15 minutes each day to monitor your page and post updates. A page that hasn’t been updated in weeks or months is not a good look for your business and brand.
5. Vary your content: Keep your page interesting by mixing it up with photos, news updates, videos and links to relevant, funny or engaging content.
6. Encourage participation: Ask questions and reward responses. If someone posts something you love, repost it and respond personally to them. Also allow your fans to post directly on your wall with questions, feedback and compliments.
7. Share exclusive news and content: Your Facebook community will love sneak-peeks about new products and news. Have you won an award or been recognised professionally in some way? Do you have a new stylist on-board? Have you got a sale or special deal running? Let your Facebook community know first.
8. Partner with other local businesses: Expand your fan base through co-promotions with business near you. You’ll get visibility on their Facebook page and by incorporating incentives, you’ll encourage viral sharing.
9. Tag people and organisations you’re connected with: Expand the reach of your posts by mentioning people and organisations in your posts. If you add the @ symbol, begin typing their name then choose from the dropdown menu you’ll ‘tag’ them in your post and it will automatically post to their wall.
10. Use the free Insights tool: Get insights about who visits your page and what they do on it so you can develop a plan to grow your community and increase interactions.

Facebook Insights

I was originally going to call this article ’10 tips for…’, which would have been much snappier, however I thought it was important to include this 11^th tip.

Respond to negative feedback honestly: using social media of any sort means creating a dialogue with your clients and community. If you receive negative comments on your page, make sure you listen and respond openly and honestly. Think of it as an opportunity to publicly turn a bad customer experience into a great one.

The possibilities are endless for Facebook. It’s continually evolving in its look, functionality and use and going forward many people believe that Facebook will completely replace the need for small business websites. Nothing is certain but the Facebook phenomenon shows no signs of slowing. And as salons continue to move onto Facebook, apps such as online booking, daily deals even retail will be done via Facebook… watch this space!